Slow Cooked Korean BBQ Chicken Tacos
This post may contain affiliate links.
Chicken is slow cooked in a delicious Korean BBQ sauce in this scrumptious Korean BBQ Chicken taco recipe topped with Asian slaw.
This sauce y’alll! Seriously, that’s all I have to say.
Ok, maybe I have a few more things to say! 😉 Like how amazing this sauce is on bbq chicken pizza, beef bowls and short ribs!
I was recently on a flight with no WiFi (I know, the blasphemy!) so I busted out my handy little notepad and actually WROTE new recipe ideas out with pen and paper. It was like a flashback to 1999!
One thing I wrote was, “make more recipes with that Korean BBQ sauce”, with a million stars next to it. A million stars means serious business in my world!
That Korean BBQ sauce, of which I was referring to, was the sauce I created to go on top of the Slow Cooked Korean BBQ Meatballs I made for Super Bowl this year.
I went on and on about the sauce in that post, and I will continue to go on and on about the sauce in every recipe I make with it because it’s seriously that good!
But this recipe y’all, it’s so simple, yet one of the top 5 best things I’ve ever made! And I don’t say that lightly. I’ve made hundreds of recipes over the years, so to make the top 5 list means serious business.
I shared this deliciousness with my roommate and he asked if I had anymore of the sauce laying around because he’d like to drink it, lol! But seriously, that’s how awesome it is.
Are you convinced to make this Korean BBQ Chicken Taco recipe yet? Seriously, for the love of foodie goodness, make it!
That’s now 5 uses of the word serious for anyone that was counting. I should also mention that I’m writing this from a coffee shop right now where I may or may not have consumed seriously too much coffee this morning!
Seriously, here’s the recipe! 😉
Korean BBQ Chicken Tacos Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups brown sugar
- 1 ½ cups soy sauce (Tamari for gluten-free)
- ½ cup mirin
- ½ cup water
- 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 3 tbsp chili paste
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger (grated)
- 6 cloves garlic (crushed)
- 1 green onion (finely chopped)
- 2 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 tablespoon water
- 2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
In a large saucepan combine the first 11 ingredients of the BBQ sauce and bring to a boil, cook 5-7 minutes.
In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and water. Add this mixture to the boiling sauce. Whisk to combine well, reduce heat to medium and cook 3-4 minutes. Turn the heat off and set the sauce aside.
Add the chicken breasts to a slow cooker, then pour the sauce on top.
Slow cook on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 6-8 hours.
Before serving, prepare the Asian Slaw to top the tacos.
Asian Slaw Ingredients
- 1 cup carrots (julienned)
- 2 cups cabbage (shredded)
- ½ cup green onions (chopped)
- ¼ cup cilantro (chopped)
- ¼ cup rice wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp sriracha
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
Add the carrots, cabbage, green onions and cilantro to a large bowl, toss to combine.
In a small bowl, whisk the rice wine vinegar, sriracha, soy sauce, honey and sesame oil together.
Pour the dressing over the carrots and cabbage, toss to combine.
Remove the Korean BBQ chicken from the crock pot, shred and place back into the crock pot. Toss with the sauce.
Place the saucy Korean BBQ chicken in tortillas and top with the slaw.
Now grab that taco and dig in!
I may or may not have eaten these tacos for every meal last week. And if I could transport myself back to last week and eat them again, I would!
Want to know what delicious new recipes are coming up on the blog, while also taking a peek at the life of a food blogger? Follow me on Instagram!
Slow Cooked Korean BBQ Chicken Tacos
Ingredients
Korean BBQ Chicken
- 1 ½ cups brown sugar
- 1 ½ cups soy sauce, Tamari for gluten-free
- ½ cup mirin
- ½ cup water
- 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 3 tbsp chili paste
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
- 6 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 green onion, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 tbsp water
- 2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Asian Slaw
- 1 cup carrots, julienned
- 2 cups cabbage, shredded
- ½ cup green onions, chopped
- ¼ cup cilantro, chopped
- ¼ cup rice wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp sriracha
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
Tacos
- 8 small corn tortillas
Instructions
Korean BBQ Chicken
- In a large saucepan combine the first 11 ingredients of the BBQ sauce and bring to a boil, cook 5-7 minutes.
- In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and water, add this mixture to the boiling sauce.
- Whisk to combine well, reduce heat to medium and cook 3-4 minutes.
- Turn the heat off and set the sauce aside.
- Add the chicken breasts to a slow cooker, then pour the sauce on top.
- Slow cook on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 6-8 hours.
Asian Slaw
- Add the carrots, cabbage, green onions and cilantro to a large bowl, toss to combine.
- In a small bowl, whisk the rice wine vinegar, sriracha, soy sauce, honey and sesame oil together.
- Pour the dressing over the carrots and cabbage, toss to combine.
Tacos
- Once the chicken has finished cooking, shred the chicken with two forks in the slow cooker and toss with the sauce.
- Spoon the Korean bbq chicken into warmed tortillas and top with the Asian slaw.
Video
Nutrition Facts
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
12 Comments on “Slow Cooked Korean BBQ Chicken Tacos”
Flavors are on point here, but is there any way to make this a little less salty? I used the amount of tamari stated in the recipe (the reduced sodium version, in fact) and the result was still kind of overpoweringly salty.
Hi Phoenix, all of the salt is coming from the soy sauce, so if you already used the reduced-sodium version, I would recommend replacing 1/2 cup of the soy sauce with 1/2 cup water, or use coconut aminos in place of the soy sauce.
I found this recipe because I needed a good slaw to go w/ the Korean chicken taco meat I already had. The slaw was super tasty! Had a nice kick to it and was easy to make. Would eat it again 🙂
So happy to hear it Carrie! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Can this be made in an Instant Pot? It looks and sounds delicious!
Yes! Follow step 1, except instead of adding the ingredients to a saucepan, you’ll add them all to the instant pot with the saute function on low. Bring to a boil in the Instant Pot, then add the cornstarch + water combination and continuing sautéing in the instant pot on low for 3-4 minutes, stirring regularly.
Add the chicken breasts to the sauce in the Instant Pot and either use the slow cook method on the Instant Pot for 3-4 hours, or use the pressure cooker method to cook the chicken in about 30 minutes.
For the pressure cooker method, place the lid on the Instant Pot and make sure the steam release is set to “sealing”. Press the poultry button and allow the chicken to pressure cook. When the Instant Pot beeps 3 times, it’s done cooking. Wait 15 minutes for the Instant Pot to cool down before removing the lid. Once the lid is removed, reach two forks in the Instant Pot to shred the chicken and toss it with the sauce.
Lillian, please let me know what you think after you try it!
My family loves this recipe. I have made it many times! I will sometimes double the sauce recipe and freeze for easier prep next time. Amazing!!
Made this with just the chicken (I’m sure the coleslaw is good though) because I needed a protein to meal prep. Very tasty! Hope that I can get away with freezing some and have it taste alright.
Could I use a whole chicken instead of just the breasts?
I made this tonight. I didn’t use the crock pot, but pan fried the chicken instead due to timing. This was probably one of the top five dishes I have ever made. Hubby and hubby’s roomate both agreed that it was incredible. Definitely going into my cooking rotation!
Oh yay! Thanks so much for sharing Katie! I’m so glad you all enjoyed it 🙂
Dish from the motherland! Looks amazing and can’t wait to try a dish from “my peeps” 😉